Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether levels of food insecurity will be a key metric of the Child Poverty Taskforce.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and prosper.

Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives but also damages their future prospects and holds back our society and economy.

With this in mind, the Child Poverty Taskforce will drive forward action across government to reduce child poverty, including considering a range of metrics which can be tracked. These will be published in the government’s Child Poverty Strategy in the spring.